We are very excited to bring your Boskone 54’s Guest of Honor, Brandon Sanderson. It has been an honor to work with him and his staff over the last several months as we pulled the schedule together, and we hope you will all enjoy what we have in store.

Please help us welcome Brandon to Boston and to Boskone, showing him the best of what Boston fandom has to offer.

Bio: Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. By junior high he had lost interest in the novels suggested to him, and he never cracked a book if he could help it. Then an eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Reader, gave him Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly.

Brandon was finishing his thirteenth novel when Moshe Feder at Tor Books bought the sixth he had written. In 2005 Brandon held his first published novel, Elantris, in his hands. Tor also published six books in Brandon’s Mistborn series, the most recent being The Bands of Mourning, along with Warbreaker and then The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, the first two in the planned ten-volume series The Stormlight Archive. Brandon was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series; the final book, A Memory of Light, was released in 2013—the year that his novella The Emperor’s Soul won a Hugo Award. That year also marked the releases of YA novels The Rithmatist from Tor Teen and Steelheart, the first book in the Reckoners trilogy from Delacorte, which concluded in 2016 with Calamity. The fifth book in his middle-grade Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series is also a 2016 release from Starscape (Tom Doherty Associates).

Currently living in Utah with his wife and children, Brandon teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. He also hosts the Hugo Award-winning writing advice podcast Writing Excuses with Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells.

Brandon’s Schedule at Boskone:

Friday 3:00 PM (free to public)My Toughest BookBrandon Sanderson, Charles Stross, Walter Jon Williams, Darlene Marshall (M), Allen M. Steele
Burroughs · 60 min · Panel
What makes a book difficult to write, or difficult to write well? Is ignorance of the subject matter a barrier? Is knowing too much? We’re always told to “write what you know, ” but can this be a trap? How about troubles with plot, character, dialog, or pacing? Our panel of authors recall which of their works had the most arduous gestation.

Friday 8:00 PM & ReceptionOpening Ceremony: Meet the GuestsBrandon Sanderson, Dave Seeley, Maryelizabeth Yturralde, Lorraine Garland, Lojo Russo, Milton Davis, Ken MacLeod
Galleria – Stage · 120 min · Event
Welcome to Boskone, New England’s longest-running convention for science fiction, fantasy, and horror! Whether you are attending for the first time or the fifty-fourth, we invite you to join us in the Galleria to meet this year’s guests and program participants while enjoying refreshments, stimulating conversation, and exceptional art that’s a feast for the eyes. Experience the music and the festivities as Boskone celebrates another year of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in Boston.

Saturday 11:00 AMMistborn: House War Game DemoJoshua Bilmes, Brandon Sanderson
Harbor I · 60 min · Gaming
Game on! A semi-cooperative resource-management game, Mistborn: House War is set during the events of Mistborn: The Final Empire, the first novel in the bestselling fantasy series by Boskone Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson. Join agent Joshua Bilmes for an early look at this exciting new board game — launching this spring!

Saturday 1:00 PMGuest of Honor Brandon Sanderson: Building a CareerBrandon Sanderson, Joshua Bilmes, Moshe Feder
Harbor III · 60 min · Dialog
Even a prodigiously talented author doesn’t become a success alone, or overnight. Boskone 54’s Guest of Honor, Brandon Sanderson; his agent, Joshua Bilmes; and his editor, Moshe Feder, discuss how they have worked together to sculpt and craft the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, “Brandon Sanderson,” that we know today. All three luminaries share their stories of navigating the shoals of the publishing world as they built friendships and careers within the speculative fiction industry.

Saturday 4:00 PMBoskone Book Club: The RithmatistBob Kuhn (M), Brandon Sanderson
Marina 4 · 60 min · Discussion Group
The Boskone Book Club continues! Join us for a conversation that brings con-goers together to consider one noteworthy work at length. This year we are reading The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson (our Guest of Honor). Boskone’s own Bob Kuhn will lead the discussion; Brandon Sanderson will join the group halfway through for a Q&A. To participate, please read the book and come ready with your observations on style, plot, character, setting, vision, geometry?

Sunday 12:00 NOONReading and Q&A with Guest of Honor Brandon SandersonBrandon Sanderson
Harbor III · 60 min · Reading
Boskone Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson reads a short selection of his work and answers questions from the audience.

Note: Boskone Programming starts at 2:00 pm on Friday, February 17th and is open to the public from 2:00-6:00 pm. A membership is required after 6:00 pm on Friday, February 17th and through the rest of the weekend.